By the turn of the century, French rooms were full of potted ferns and palms, and stands like this were made to lift them up into the light. Found in Amiens and dating to the 20th century, it is a tall three-legged stand, a small round top on turned splayed legs with a little round shelf set low between them. The lower shelf doubled its use, room for one thing above and another below, all balanced on a footprint no wider than a dinner plate. Sylvie sets it beside a chair as a slim side table, a lamp on top and a book or a glass on the shelf below.
